New Yorkers -- Restaurant help, please!

[Flaxbee]

We have a last-minute business dinner in New York on Sunday evening around 7pm -- the people we are meeting will be on West 79th, so I'm looking for suggestions for mid-range, nice restaurants in that general area (or at least, not SoHo or anywhere far downtown).

I guess, mid-range to moderately expensive, but not too $$$.

I lived there in the late '90s, but have only been there infrequently since so I don't know where to go anymore.

The people we're meeting are coming in from the west coast and from London, so I have to choose the restaurant but they will be paying from a corporate account - so I have to walk the line of finding a nice restaurant w/o being obnoxiously expensive b/c I obviously don't want to look like we're taking advantage of them, but it should be a very good quality restaurant. Probably should have a good variety of cuisine (so, not an exclusively sushi place, for example). And preferably someplace where we can conduct business discussions - so nothing too noisy, if that's possible.

I need to send a few suggestions to their London office tonight - so any sincere input would be very much appreciated. Thanks! :hi:

[rug]

1. Only 32 blocksa away.

[fishwax]

6. glad you got that in as the first response

:bounce:

[Flaxbee]

8. I was waiting for that one.

Thanks, but I think we'll pass this time.

[rug]

11. Well then, try this.

http://www.boatbasincafe.com/Gallery.htm

[grasswire]

2. have you checked out the reviews on urbanspoon?

You can look by neighborhood and category and see what others have rated them. It's a handy tool.

[Flaxbee]

10. just looking at it now, thanks

:hi:

[grasswire]

3. is that upper west side?

or mid-town? or what?

[elleng]

5. Upper west side, above Central Park south.

[grasswire]

12. Mario Batali has several restaurants in NYC that are acclaimed.

The newest one is called Eataly. You might check the list of his restaurants out -- most people 'round the world would have heard of Mario and anticipate a good meal.

http://www.mariobatali.com/restaurants.cfm

[elleng]

4. x-posting in NY forum.

[Betty88]

7. Do you like Italian?

http://www.carminesnyc.com/locations/uwny/index.php

Carmines serves family size portions, so an order of pasta and meatballs will feed 4 people. Prices are not to bad and the food is good. Our family uses it as a place to meet up kind of halfway between our apt. in Brooklyn and moms house in Yonkers.

[speedoo]

9. Try Zagat online.

I think their new edition is just out.

Zagat has never once failed me.

[KossackRealityCheck]

13. Reliable Italian Manhattan -- "Olive Garden"

One in the theater district, one in the flat iron district.

201 West 47th Street

696 Avenue of the Americas

[redwitch]

14. Metrazur

It's a Charlie Palmer restaurant on a balcony at Grand Central. It will dazzle them, an amazing space, great food and the back drop of Grand Central. I love the place! And it is very reasonable. Especially since they have an expense account. It is in the heart of midtown though.

[grasswire]

15. I want to go there.

Sounds wonderful.

[grasswire]

16. dinner menu

http://www.charliepalmer.com/Properties/Metrazur/Menu/?MenuId=91